War of the Wyvern: The Ninth Crystal
by Daryl Falchion
Summary: Sequel to Thy Brother's Keeper. Darkness in a room? Turn on a light. Darkness in your soul? That's a quandary and one that Cecil realizes is still lingering...
1. Introduction

A Final Fantasy 4 Story

_War of the Wyvern:_

_The Ninth Crystal_

By Daryl Falchion

_One born of a dragon  
Bearing Darkness and Light  
Shall rise to the heavens  
Over the still land.  
Bathing the moon in eternal light  
He brings a promise to Mother Earth  
With bounty and grace._


	2. Scene 1

The crystal shed its light silently.

Cecil let the immaculate glow wash over him, hunting down the doubts gnawing at his mind. It was if, bathed in radiance, he could hear the voice of his father as it was in the temple all those years ago. He drew a breath. That meeting was too brief and he'd not had the chance to cherish it, not knowing it for what it was at the time.

In the distance..."Kain won't drink me under this year!"

A smile touched the paladin's lips, his eyes flittering open, bright in the cadence. From where he stood a hundred Cecils stared back him, reflections in the mirrors of the floor, walls and ceiling. Here, in the crystal room the paladin could forget, if but for a moment, of being a husband, a hero and a king.

A response..."You say that every year and every year it's _him_ standing over _your _body."

The paladin's boots made little sound as he turned to leave. His brief melancholy was soon to be drowned in responsibilities, camaraderie and good mead. It was the same way every year, as the five Heroes of the Crystals returned to Baron to celebrate their victory over Zeromus. And while Cecil enjoyed the time with his friends, this day always brought into stark relief the thoughts of his lunar family and his own overwhelming duties.

Cecil cast a glance to the crystal once more, determined to use its beauty to banish his frustrations.

The crystal shed its darkness silently.

Darkness? Like an elecfish caught on a line, the paladin twitched. He peered curiously at the crystal, thinking himself mistaken. No, no mistake. Darkness seeped into the facets of the jewel, dulling its brilliant sheen an ugly gray. He took a step towards the crystal. If the crystal that always shed light was darkened what could that possibly mean?

_The crystal...Bring me the crystal..._

Cecil shook his head, pondering where that came from.A hand on his arm jostled the paladin and he half-turned to see Rosa. Her lovely brown eyes glittered. "Come, my love. Things are almost ready for the party."

"But...the crystal..."

His wife titled her head. "What about it?"

Lifting a finger, Cecil pointed to the crystal, following it with his own eyes. But his lips parted again to see that there was not a sign of the shadows that had, moments ago, infected the crystal. Had he visited the Crystal Room so often that the paladin saw shadows from his mind? Voices in his mind...?

Sighing, Cecil offered no resistance as Rosa dragged him out of the chamber.


	3. Scene 2

"And then B-BAM!" Edge illustrated his point, by slamming his fist into his other hand. The gesture was unsteady and Cecil could see by the glaze in his eyes that the ninja was near to losing his bet before the dragoon even arrived. "That s-sucker went down like the monster of Babil!...Isn't that right, R...Rydia?"

The summoner crossed her arms over her ample belly. When she shook her head, the mass of green curls concealed one eye and she glared at Edge with the other. "Are you drunk already?" The ninja extended his arms as if imploring peace and Rydia let out a long-suffering sigh, turning his attention to the Queen and King of Baron. "Pay no attention to him and his tall tales."

Rosa smiled benignly. "We never do." She winked at Cecil and elbowed him good-naturedly.

The touch lifted the paladin out of the reminisce he'd faded into. Not wanting to burden his friends with his thoughts, Cecil just nodded. The party has been in full swing for over an hour and yet the paladin felt detached from it all. Despite himself, he could not dispel the ill-ease brought on by the crystal's brief fading and his own detachment from reality.

_The crystal...Bring me the crystal..._

The sound of the great double doors opening drew everyone's attention (except Edge who was busy counting the tiles of the ceiling). Cecil's heart leapt up into his throat at the sight of who strolled through the entryway. The dragon helm, the blue-scale armor, the silver-tipped spear could only belong to...

"Kain!" Rosa squealed as she hurled herself at the dragoon. Kain had naught a chance to dodge as the white mage buried him in a hug. After her, Rydia lightly embraced him and then the ninja tried to crush Kain in a bear hug but stumbled and fell to the floor, face-first. That drew a smile on Kain's face something which the paladin thankfully saw more of these days.

_He's happier...but why? _The old fear and mistrust scrapped at the outreaches of his soul, but the paladin Cecil smothered them under the brotherly embrace he gave to the dragoon. When the two parted there was no trace of that suspicion. Whatever was behind the darkness inside the crystal, he would refuse to even consider Kain involved.

"So you've made a home with the floor, then?" Kain said with a smirk.

That elicited a chorus of chuckles from the crowd, including Cecil who shared the mirth but excluding Edge who was rubbing his nose. Rydia playfully kicked her spouse. There were days that the paladin simply could only shake his head at the union. Yet they seemed to fit shoe to foot. "That is no way for a king to act, Edge. Look at Cecil—he knows how to play the part."

Cecil flinched under the stares. _Play the part yes...am I for real? A real king, a real hero?_

"Sorry, I'm late." The dragon hauled his helmet off, sticking it under an arm. His golden blond hair stuck to his head. "Jorja thought it was best to have a few practice sessions with the novices before giving the group a mission." Kain aimed a look the paladin's way. "Speaking of which, we'll need to have a little chat later."

Cecil blinked. Before he could ask about what the summoner piped in with, "Who's Jorja?"

At that moment Edge found his feet for he sprang up on them. "J-jorja's his new girl...girlfriend." Kain recoiled as the ninja leaned his way, undoubtedly finding the mixture of Troian ale and Baronian Whiskey a bit repugnant. "You dumped the flakey Agart gal and got with the real girl, isn't that right, K...Kain?" Edge added.

Now all eyes were on the dragoon. Kain weathered them, offering a non-committal shrug. But there was something, a light in those navy eyes that made Cecil take notice. A light like the crystal itself. "Word travels fast." A hand waved dismissively. "It's nothing serious. Don't give me those looks."

Rosa was beaming and Rydia snorted. Again, Cecil found himself swept away from the scene. Talk about Kain's love interest ("Edge, that's really none of your business"), Rydia and Edge's wedding and their expectant child ("Let's hope he or she gets my good sense"), and the buzz surrounding the reappearance of the second moon ("One night Cecil and I went for a stroll and there it was..."). Naturally, talk about the moon brought in back the memory of the lunarinans, his other family...

_Will I see them again? Does the moon's return mean they will come back also?_

_The crystal...Bring me the crystal..._

With Rosa prodding Kain about the new girl and the dragoon evading any direct answers, Edge laughing and Rydia shouting abuse at her husband, the paladin found himself at sea with his memories. His legs seemed to have a mind of their own for Cecil found himself passing through a side door and up a set of stairs. The statues of former Baronian kings and the paintings of their lovely wives were invisible to his eyes. Those eyes would only see...

_The moon. There it is. As it has been for the last few weeks. And now the crystal was shadowed...What does it all mean?_

"So, you're still wearing that awful drag..."

No acknowledgement did the Baronian king give to his friend aside from a tip of his silver-haired head. The dragoon took a spot aside him, abandoning his attempts at conversation. They remained that way for several minutes, Cecil still mired in his memories and Kain with a contemplative look on his hard features.

Cecil knew his friend was waiting for him to spill. But how do you tell even your closet friend that a voice spoke inside his mind? Then again, someone like Kain should be able to relate...but this was Cecil's dilemma and not another's...He was king and should handle this himself...

_The crystal...Bring me the crystal..._

Stretching his arms over his head, the dragoon said, "Hey, you got that faraway look in your eyes." Cecil said nothing. Kain tapped the paladin on the shoulder. "That is the same look you have when you run off to do something courageous and stupid...while dragging your unsuspecting friend along for the ride."

That finally shred the shroud of silence around the paladin. "Me?" Heartened by Kain's good humor, Cecil chuckled. "I seem to remember a time when I'd gone to Mount. Ordeals to drag back a friend and wound up with a broken leg, a hole in my stomach and an angry dragon breathing down my neck."

The hand that was on his shoulder vanished as Kain clutched his heart in mock horror. "You wound me, my friend. Don't you remember that evil trick you played to force me to leave the mountain?" In the background Edge and Rydia exchanged banter and Rosa was instructing the cook to start the feast. "Getting me to promise to return if you would survive—with the Enterprise overhead and you knew I didn't see it!"

"Drag's good for something, I see." Cecil tapped his head, turning an amused eye on his friend. But the dragoon's attention was riveted on the skies.

Kain jabbed a finger heavenward. "What's that?"

At first, the paladin couldn't fathom what his friend gestured to. Then the splatter of crimson crossing the clouds caught his attention and held it fast. One could be forgiven for mistaking it for a Red Wing from afar—it was the same color, after all—but Cecil knew his aircraft well and that was no ship.

"A wyvern..." His stomach dropped inside. He and the dragoon shared looks. The paladin's fingers twitched for a sword, either his father's or the Ragnarok would do. But both were back in the Throneroom overhanging his chair in a Baronian crest.

"Damn." A few nastier curses were swirling in Cecil's head as the skies poured with crimson-winged demons. A single might be a messenger; this number indicated invasion. "Mobilize the troops. Signal the dragoons. See if you can get a few of the Red Wings into the air. Not a shot is to be fired until I say so. I'd like to avoid bloodshed if possible..."

His next few words were drowned by the attack. Like raindrops of blood they descended upon the city, belching great gouts of flame and tearing into the grounded airships. Cecil heard a cry of fury and anguish—his own—as they blew apart. This was a direct attack, premeditated and deadly. So great was the paladin's pain that he didn't even see the fireball arching toward _him_.

A strong arm hauled him out of harm's way a heartbeat before the balcony exploded.

In the hallway Cecil choked on the smoke. His face ashened at the sight of Baron Castle with a great gapping wound. That gaze flickered to his savior but mercifully the dragoon fared fine, standing tall, hand gripping the spear. The paladin didn't care much for the expression on his face.

"It is as I feared..."

Those words cut into Cecil's heart. "I don't want to hear that, Kain!" One hand clenched and the other pulled the dragoon close. "This is what you wanted to speak to me of, wasn't it? Now's a good time to tell me." Both men winced as the castle quaked under another assault. After it passed the paladin pointed in the direction of the barracks.

"Nevermind. We haven't the time. Summon the troops. Try to get _any _ship in the air before our fleet is entirely destroyed and the city lost." Blood rushed his veins. This was his home and those beasts were ripping it to shreds. But he was, is, the king. Bastards wouldn't take her without a fight...

Another explosion rocked the castle, spilling both paladin and dragoon to the stone floor. Kain was first on his feet, helping his friend up. Uttering "don't do anything too foolish...you're too damn ugly to rescue..." the dragoon leapt over the stairs in three bounds and vanished into an antechamber. Cecil himself was forced to clutch the banister to keep from falling again.

"CECIL!"

The sound knifed into the paladin and he clamped his hands over his ears. That was no human voice. Again and the again the city was struck. Again and again his name was screamed. Running through the halls of his trembling fortress, the paladin searched for the source of the sound. As king, it was his duty to see if he could parlay with the opposing commander and stave off killing.

_Fourteen unbroken lines of kings and Baron will fall under my rule..._

"KING OF BARON! Show your face!"

Unarmed, the king of Baron raced up the tallest tower in his castle and hurried across the stone parapets. Such was the altitude that his white-silver hair blew into his eyes as those green orbs cast into the sky, despaired. There they were. Dozens of them were dropping bolts of lightning or setting troops on fire. Cecil whistled, impressed. Kain had been out of his sight for a mere five minutes and already the troops were lining the walls.

A glance down revealed devastation. The barracks were ablaze and the infirmary in shambles. Baronian Royal Guards ushered the injured to buildings that had not fallen to the flames and all manner of white mages spent their spells keeping those salvageable alive. Among them was his wife, the summoner and the Eblan king. Cecil forced his gaze upwards, lips set in a straight line.

He was their king, their hero, their legend and now it was time to live up to that legend

Tearing his cape and fashioning a white flag, the paladin shouted as loud as he could. Amid the shattering stone and the screams he barely heard his own voice. But the wyverns responded anyways. They broke off from the attack, all save for one flying for the skies and taking up a position not unlike the tattered Red Wings.

The largest banked over the tower and hovered in the air, his shadow enveloping the paladin. The wind from his beating wings pressed down on Cecil and he lifted a hand to guard against it but refused to genuflect. Everything he did now was critical to the wellbeing of his kingdom. He was in a singularly vulnerable position—weaponless and alone. But so help him Lunar Gods, he would not yield.

"Cecil of Baron. The Master will make a bargain with you."

"Master? Speak your piece and be gone."

The wyvern let out a roar of annoyance. "The crystal for the city."

_The crystal...Bring me the crystal..._

The crystal...Cecil's mind careened back to the Crystal Room. How could he ever hand over the crystal? Such a powerful artifact would be a deadly weapon in the hands of so evil a creature. And Master? What master? Who commanded these beasts to assault his city? But, then again, how could he condemn the city for a mere jewel...?

The paladin's heart was torn but none of that surfaced on his face.

"I can...not."

A momentous roar emitted from the dragon's mouth. "Then watch your city burn."

Within his veins the paladin's blood turned to ice. "Name something else. Baron has a treasury—"

"The Master will be content with but one other thing...You."

Before the paladin could react the dragon struck him full in the face with its tail. Cecil staggered back, nearly tumbling from the parapets. His hand felt around for a weapon but there was none to be had. Cursing from the pain, the Baronian king ducked the swing of a paw. Blood followed his every step.

The dodging was instinctual; self-preservation was natural. But after a second sidestep, the paladin could see the host of wyverns poised to shatter his city. What was he thinking? What was his life in comparison to the lives of his subjects, his friends, his wife and family? Even if they should break the bargain and return at least his sacrifice would delay the attack long enough for those within the city to regroup or retreat.

He would buy their lives with his'.

Throwing his hands spread-eagle, Cecil threw resistance to the wind. "Cease this attack upon my city and I will go with you."

No further invitation was needed. The dragon swiped the king in a paw and Cecil gasped as the sharp talons squeezed the air from his lips. No cry of protest came from those lips, however, because when he gazed up there was the wonderful sight of the departing dragons. As the one that carried him became airborne, the paladin felt his consciousness slipping beneath the smothering blanket of pain.

Then that sight vanished—like the light of the crystal quenched by the darkness.


	4. Scene 3

Whatever scenario Cecil had envisioned upon awaking from his capture—imprisonment, torture, a slow, painful death—this was not it. After he roused from the hard pallets in the Lunar Whale the paladin found himself stunned to glimpse the second moon out a porthole. His initial thought to activate the crystal on the starship was quickly smothered by the fact that it, like the one in Baron, was a ghastly grey and didn't respond to his touch. So much for returning to the Blue Planet...

What had become of Baron, his friends, his wife and family? What had happened to the crystal?

Leaving the starship Cecil realized that this was not some bizarre dream. The cold cut to the bone and as he walked aimlessly, the paladin clutched his cape close. No, this was no hallucination; his injuries weren't sufficient to prompt this even before the rest that greatly restored his health. As his trek lead southwestern, the paladin viewed the Crystal Palace from the distance, all shining embattlements and stalagmite towers.

"Come, hither, to the palace..."

Cecil froze, hand sliding down to a sword that was, yet again, not there. The voice was benign; lulling the paladin like one of Rosa's healing spells...not like the slithering voice that persisted about the crystal. Within the paladin warred his mistrust for something so suspect and yet so soothing but still pressed onward to the Crystal Palace. If it was a trap, so be it; he'd find out soon enough.

Despite his solitude and his lack of weaponry, the monsters kept their distance, hiding in the stalagmites and shadows. When Cecil departed another lunarian cavern untouched he considered that the voice might have afforded him some protection. That voice beckoned him at regular intervals, intensifying if the paladin tarried too long. One such case was when he got a good look at the palace.

Composed of a crystalline material, the walls usually gleamed like polished diamonds. But just like the crystal in Baron and in the Lunar Whale tarnish bled into the walls, depleting them of illumination. The paladin shivered and this time not from the cold. Before defeating Zeromus every nook and cranny of the palace gleamed darkness. A repeat of this became all the more apparent as he laid his hands upon the stone double doors.

The theme of diminished light and beauty continued as the paladin stepped inside. The double door swung closed behind him prompting a raised eyebrow. No point in trying to open them; whoever had the power to shut them probably had the power to keep them that way. Instead, Cecil strode on to the dais in the center of the main chamber. Here, years ago he'd met his uncle for the first time.

Thus it was with no surprise that the paladin watched as a pillar of light struck the chair and a figure emerged, too brilliant to be seen in the center. What did startle him was that the man was neither Fu-So-Ya nor Golbez...A sigh slipped past his lips, at first a sign of his disappointment then a second one, sharp, to signify shock. The man was a mirror...his mirror. The same light green eyes, the same silver hair, the same jaw, the same height...

"I bid you greetings, Ce-ci-l. I am Klu-Ya and I've waited long to look upon you...my son."

Hero, king, husband...all those titles evaporated in that instant as the paladin drifted to his father and his father to him. There was no fear of deception; no fear of this man not being Klu-Ya. Aside from the obvious resemblance was fluttering feeling in his heart. They did not embrace. Cecil was still too awkward for that. But just being in the presence of him lifted the weight of the Tower of Babil off the paladin's shoulders.

Questions poured out of his mouth. Not quickly enough to satisfy his swirling mind for it raged like the first time he put a foot on an ascending airship. "Do you know what's happening on the Blue Planet? That Baron was attacked? Do you know if it's under still under assault? Why am I here? Why are you here? Why—"

"Ce-ci-l." Those three syllables, so softly spoken, shattered the storm around the paladin. "It would take days to explain everything. That is time we can ill afford." The rise and fall of the long ivory selves as his father gestured calmly added to the man's hypnotic poise. "Your questions must wait. There is something you need to see."

Boxing all his queries inside his head for now, the paladin followed to the chamber the man started for. His breath hitched at remembering what lay beyond that door. In it was housed the four crystals of dark and the four crystals of light. The paladin was not anxious for a return to the theme of shadows pervading the last few hours. Thankfully, the determined set of his father's jaw and the fierce eyes fixed on him gave the paladin courage enough to tread past that dreaded threshold.

Magnifying the paladin's fears eightfold was the crystals—shimmering with tainted light.

"Sorrow fills me at having to show this to you."

"It is as I feared..."

His stomach felt like it dropped to his knees. All the links—the voice, the darkened crystal, the return of the second moon—connected now. As he trod among the crystals, touching each in turn and retracting his fingers, repulsed, he fought off the rising panic. He could feel his father's eyes upon him, weighing him. Measuring his strength, perhaps?

"If...If he should still live on I will destroy him again..." Every word invested with determination, Cecil leveled his gaze with his father's. "But the loss of life...Is there no way to keep him from rising again?"

Bright white hair flared as the lunarian shook his head. At first, Cecil thought that was an indication of no but his next words tamed the fear in his heart. "Zeromus has not yet gathered the strength to take his astral or physical form. After his defeat at the hands of you and your friends he's been nursing his wounds, contemplating that failure. And he believes that is because of one thing: the ninth crystal."

The crystal...Bring me the crystal...

Like before the sound drove deep into Cecil's mind, compelling him...He shook his head and spared a glance the lunarian's way. Klu-ya offered him a sad smile. Any thoughts of mistrust were smothered by his own experiences with Kain. The game of distrust he'd played often enough already and it had nearly destroyed him and his friend. Despite the pending crisis, the paladin would treasure this time with his father.

But then...whose voice was it?

Like a sword thrust into his heart realization struck the paladin.

Zeromus.

"That's why the Wyverns attacked! They want the crystal." The pieces were falling into place—and soon everything would be falling apart. Including himself. Distressed, Cecil's eyes squeezed shut. Then there was a hand upon his shoulder. Breathing in deeply, the paladin commanded himself. The very touch was like Golbez's all those years ago. His emerald eyes opened.

And gazed into an identical set. In that moment a message was sent and delivered. A moment of years in the making for both father and son. As like the moment when a dark knight set foot in a temple and came face to face with his father to atone for his sins and embrace the light. But that was nothing compared to this. Both of their eyes shined with tears too long withheld.

He's counting on me to be that hero, king, legend...All the things he was. Is.

Klu-Ya tore free of the gaze first, dropping his arm and coughing. "Indeed. And they took you hoping either to derive the knowledge of its location or use you as barter for the crystal itself. Or both." Whispering words from the lunarian language, Klu-Ya summoned a staff composed of the material of the moon. "Come. It is time for us to leave for the Blue Planet and protect the crystal!"

The crystal...Bring me the crystal...

Cecil flinched. Drawing a deep breath, the paladin forced himself to focus. What harm could a simple voice do him? Or to anyone or anything for that matter? As long as he maintained in control of himself Zeromus couldn't...couldn't anything. His eyes darted over to his father. The man was a well of strength and from there the Baronian king took heart.

"Yes. Let's go."

Two generations of lunarians left the crystal chambers in its darkness.


End file.
